MLS expansion club New York FC set to join the league in 2015 (Tuesday links)

It’s official: New York will be getting an expansion MLS team called New York FC that is expected to join the league in 2015.

The big news? The team will be owned by Manchester City (this was previously reported) AND the New York Yankees (this was not). City will be the majority owner while the Yankees will “be an active member of the ownership group,” according to a news release. Yankee Stadium, of course, is hosting a City-Chelsea friendly on Saturday.

The league has long been committed to expansion in New York, which will give MLS 20 teams two seasons from now. New York technically already has a team, but NYCFC will be located somewhere within the five boroughs, while the Red Bulls play in Harrison, New Jersey.

Interestingly, there is no stadium deal in place for NYCFC. The new team will play in an interim home to start as ownership explores options in Queens and elsewhere.

What do you make of the news? Let’s get to some links:

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— First off, here are a couplereports from Spain linking the Sounders to Levante UD midfielder Jose Javier Barkero. The stories indicate Obafemi Martins is behind efforts to bring a former teammate to his new club. The Sounders have declined to comment on the reports through a team spokesman.

— Looks like ticket sales for the June 11 World Cup qualifier at CenturyLink Field between the U.S. and Panama are at about 32,000 (reports here and here). Safe to say sales have been a bit slow the past couple weeks and capacity cap of 42,000 shouldn’t be an issue.

— Around the league, here is Grant Wahl‘s latest column for SI.com with lots of news and notes, and it sounds like the MLS All-Star Game opponent won’t be British.

— When it comes to other MLS ownership news, it sounds like David Beckham is definitely interested in getting involved, and the league put out a statement recently regarding reports about Chivas USA possibly changing hands.

— Lastly, the league website’s look at the controversial plays from last week (including some from the Sounders-Dallas games)…